Falling For My Accidental CEO Husband-Chapter 222: Hard To Track

"You are a difficult woman to meet."

Serena’s posture stiffened as her eyes looked up at the woman who had just placed a bag casually on the table where she was having her coffee. Slowly, she glanced up, meeting Serena’s gaze with a bold and challenging look. Recognition flickered almost instantly, sharp and undeniable. Samantha.

This was Samantha—Aiden’s business partner. And the woman who had been by his side that night when she’d been attacked and Sidney had told her about Corrick.

Even now, the memory was a vivid burn in Serena’s mind, tinged with an unexpected, irrational jealousy. She’d felt it then and she felt it again now. She remembered the way Aiden had mentioned her so casually, almost dismissively. He had said he would be bringing someone along to make things more believable for Sidney. At the time, Serena had assumed it would be a hired actress or a professional associate—a stranger there only to play a role. But no.

Instead, he had chosen Samantha.

Samantha, his friend.

The sting of that night still lingered. Serena hadn’t been prepared for the easy camaraderie Samantha seemed to share with Aiden. Nor had she been ready for the sharp, coiled jealousy that twisted in her chest every time Samantha’s laugh rang out. Every time her hand lingered too long on Aiden’s arm. Dam* it had taken all her effort to continue the act of fighting and arguing with Aiden and even though he’d looked at her with only pretend hatred, she had not been happy. In fact, she preferred to not think of that night at all.

Aiden had assured her,of course,hat there was nothing between him and Samantha. And Serena believed him. She had no reason to doubt him. She hadn’t thought of it again after that night, but seeing Samantha here now was disconcerting. It reminded her of the jealous, insecure person she could become.And Serena did not like jealousy.

Jealousy led to darker feelings, uglier emotions, and messy consequences. It reminded her of all the problems she would always want to avoid.

Now, as she stared across the table at Samantha, she couldn’t help but think why Samantha would be here. But Serena forced a smile, masking her discomfort. "Samantha," she said, her tone polite but cool. "I’m not hard to find, actually. Six out of seven days, you can find me in my office. No need to work so hard to track me down."

Samantha rolled her eyes dramatically before taking a seat opposite Serena, uninvited. She waved a waiter over with a quick flick of her wrist and ordered herself a coffee and Serena sighed. Seems like she’d just gained herself some company for coffee. Having placed her order, Samantha then she turned back to Serena with a knowing grin. "That’s a relief to Aiden, I’m sure. He doesn’t have to worry about you straying or falling for someone else."

Serena blinked, unsure how to respond, but Samantha kept talking as though she hadn’t noticed or rather she did not need an answer.

"Honestly, I’ve been wanting to meet you since that night," Samantha continued. "But Aiden seems determined to keep you to himself. Do you know I had to use sex to finally get to you?"

Serena choked, her eyes widening in shock. "What?"

Samantha laughed and leaned back in her chair. "Yeah! I had to bribe my husband with sex to get him to agree to leave his own work and distract Aiden long enough for me to sneak away and meet you."

"You’re married?" Serena asked.

Samantha nodded, looking amused. "Oh, I just realized I haven’t properly introduced myself, have I? Sorry about that." She cleared her throat and launched into her explanation. "Okay, so you already know my name since we’ve met and all. What you might not know is that I’m married to Skylar—Aiden’s best friend and old university roommate. Skylar and I are the only people who can truly claim to be Aiden’s friends. Mind you, it is a title that he has not given us but we have claimed and are unwilling to relinquish. Anyway, so when we heard that he got married, we were dying to meet you. But, well, life got in the way. Skylar had an important meeting, so we couldn’t come when we planned to."

Samantha took a sip of the water placed before her, then continued. "And when we finally tried to visit, Aiden told us that you two were divorcing. Or maybe you were divorcing him? I never got the full story. Either way, meeting you didn’t seem like the best idea at the time though I did try. But Aiden had warned your assistant and she kept putting me off."

She paused for dramatic effect before leaning forward with a grin. "But now, if I’m not mistaken, you two are getting married again, right?"

"Yes?" Serena answered.

Samantha blinked. "Are you asking me if you and Aiden are getting married?"

"Uhh no?"

Samantha blinked again, her confusion deepening. "Wait. So you’re not? Or you are? Or... what?"

Serena hid a smile behind her cup of coffee, taking an exaggeratedly slow sip to keep Samantha in suspense. She was pretty sure her expression had been just as bewildered a few minutes ago, so it only felt fair to even the playing field.

Finally, Serena placed the cup down with an innocent expression. "What do you think?"

Samantha frowned, clearly struggling to keep up. "I think... I have no idea! Are you screwing with me right now?"

Serena tilted her head, pretending to consider it. "Maybe."

Samantha’s jaw dropped, her hands flying up in exasperation. "Holy sh**! You just pranked me! For a second, I thought I’d stepped into some alternate universe where you forgot your own wedding plans or something."

Serena shrugged, her lips twitching into a sly grin. "Well, to be fair, you did throw about a thousand words at me without pausing to breathe. I figured you deserved a little confusion in return."

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